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Cambridge Wiz Techs Have developed New Gizmos for Autonomous Vehicles

Driverless cars will now be able to see better.

It would seem that it won’t be long now until we see a driverless car pass by, telling us that we don’t know how to drive. Thanks to several ongoing projects, we will hear more about the robot cars in the nearby future. Cambridge wiz techs have developed new gizmos for autonomous vehicles, thus ensuring that such a car can see better.

Apart from being a very good punchline from an adaptation of Red Riding Hood, the autonomous vehicles now actually have bigger eyes in order to distinguish better between several traffic instances.

According to professor Robert Cipolla, the head of the research project, the new systems will not only ensure that the car doesn’t mistake you for a runway, but they will also be capable of cutting back the costs of making such a high-tech car.

The new models of driverless vehicles will include two new programs. The first one is called SegNet, and, according to the team, it’s far more accurate than any laser sensor or image interpreter. SegNet is capable of scanning any image depicting a road and identify the certain instance found in a picture.

Furthermore, through the new system computer system, the car will be fit to distinguish between several environmental entities such as the main road, pedestrians, street signs and other vehicles in the area. Even though the system is still being tested out, it has shown a tremendous potential in terms of navigation.

The professor and his team have enlisted the help of many undergrad students in order to improve SegNet. And so, for several days, a couple of students fed many pictures to the program. All and all, the program has been able to distinguish between different pixels with a 90 percent accuracy.

Cipolla declared that no image analysis system was able to obtain such a high score. The second innovation in the field of driverless automobiles it the location system. According to project’s abstract, thanks to the new locative algorithm, the car will now be able to figure out its relative position in the world, without using GPS devices.

This system holds a tremendous potential taking into consideration the fact that are many area with low, limited or no GPS signal, such as tunnels or country roads.

The Cambridge professor is very confident that the new project will step up the robotization process. Thus, somewhere in the nearby future we are bound to see more driverless vehicles on the road.

Photo credits:www.wikipedia.org

Uber Maps Not Absolutely Accurate

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Uber Maps Not Absolutely Accurate

Some of the cars from Uber’s maps are claimed to not exist, as the app will provide you with a multitude of available cars in a certain place, but still quote you with a suspiciously long time-frame for a ride.

The international transportation network company’s app seems to not establish that efficiently a correlation between its maps and reality.

According to a spokesperson, the location and number of cars is “generally accurate”, but Uber’s help staff seem to disagree, on some levels.

The main issue seems to be that neither customers nor drivers have a clear and proper insight into Uber’s mechanisms.

The drivers, however, get a more accurate view, but they don’t get as much help as they’d like.

Surge pricing, which is the effect of Uber rates increasing in order to ensure reliability when demand cannot be met by the number of drivers on the road, plays another role in the drivers’ capabilities and options. Nevertheless, the maps do not inform them about how long the surge is likely to last, nor of the number of drivers knowing about it.

Drivers can easily linger around a certain busy area, without comprehending completely or correctly that the surge is over, or discovering that already multiple Uber cars are headed into the region.

The company shows caution and is prudent in giving you accurate data, because, in theory, their rivals (such as Lyft) might use the maps to discover weak spots in Uber’s coverage.

Even though Uber has denied the existence of the so-called ‘phantom cars’, its employees reported that the Uber app gives an insight similar to a “screensaver” rather than an actual representation of where the cars are.

The reason of the ‘ghost car’ issue is due to factors like the desire to maintain a good user experience within the application, driver safety and the concept of latency, whereas if a car is in motion there may be delay in sending its accurate location in real time. So, this is why latency can affect whether customers are seeing the precise location of drivers on their smartphone app.

An Uber spokesperson also said that: “Another reason is that the app only shows the nearest eight cars to avoid cluttering the screen. Also, to protect the safety of drivers, in some volatile situations, the app doesn’t show the specific location of individual cars until the ride is requested.”

All in all, a person familiar with this subject said that the app will not show more cars than there are in the area, but, sometimes, it will display fewer vehicles that are available nevertheless, provided there are more than eight drivers nearby.

Photo Credits media.dth.s3.amazonaws.com

Over 5,800 Cars Recalled by Toyota for Possible Steering Problems

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An announcement made by Toyota Motor Corp on Tuesday said that the automobile manufacturer would be recalling 5,850 cars, the majority in the United States, for possible steering problems that might result in a loss of control.

According to the Japanese automaker’s statement, about 5,650 Camry, Camry Hybrid, Avalon and Avalon Hybrid cars from 2014 would be called back due to a left front suspension lower arm. It seems that this suspension arm runs the risk of separating from a ball joint which in turn could cause the loss of steering control. Such a malfunction might increase the risk of an accident. The remaining 200 automobiles were sold in Canada and the Middle East, a Toyota spokeswoman said.

And although the number of recalled cars is still under 6,000 there were so many recent recalls that this number could change by December. It is in December that Toyota plans to formally notify all owners of cars with the suspected defect.

Until the formal notification of these steering problems, owners of all the affected models could benefit from bringing the car into a service center to make sure that everything is running smoothly. During other automobile recalls, companies agreed to reimburse car owners who chose to make repairs on the vehicle before the official recall notice. As such, it seems like a precautionary trip to the service shop would be highly recommendable.

With Toyota’s recent recall, it’s clear that automakers are facing the worst year in recall history. Until now, over 50 million vehicles have already been recalled to dealers because of safety issues such as faulty ignitions or malfunctions resulting in accidents and fatalities. More than half of this 50 million figure was caused by General Motor’s recall on an ignition switch malfunction affecting 26 million older vehicles.

It came to light that General Motors ignored this problem despite the fact that company personnel had documented it thoroughly. For over a decade, GM hoped that everything would go away.

When everything didn’t go their way, General Motors had to admit to the ignition issue which caused the deaths of at least 30 people. This is precisely why all automakers have decided to err on the side of caution, even if the issue in question isn’t as dangerous as what GM had to deal with.

And while Toyota’s recall is most likely not as dangerous as GM’s switch ignition problem, owners could surely do well with a check.

Inter-car Communication System Imposed Soon by Regulators

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The Obama administration wants to interfere with something almost every American uses, the car. But do not worry, because the administration has a plan to turn roads into safer places, or at least into less dangerous ones.

Basically, the legislators want cars and light trucks to be equipped with sensors and communication systems in order to avoid accidents. The inter-car communication system will only need a couple of data to be sent between two or more vehicles. The most important aspect in driving safety is the location of each vehicle. But privacy issues will arise, as usual.

There are a couple of reasons why this system will actually increase road safety. Firstly, night driving should be less stressful as specific sensors will point any sudden change, even before any visual cues will appear, like stoplights. Secondly, dead angles will not be a potentially dangerous issue. As well, a car about to turn your away from just around the corner will not be a surprise.

Until the administration devises proper regulation, drivers can enjoy a new gadget. The Navdy dashboard device is a futuristic transparent display which brings the needed information in a non-invasive manner.

The inter-car communication system will save lives, repair and hospitalization costs

With a technology working up to approximately 300 yards, numerous accidents can easily be avoided. In fact, the administration announced on Monday that according to a research report by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the numbers are impressive. About 592.000 left-turn and intersection crashes could be avoided thanks to the new technology. That would include almost 1.100 saved lives every year, Fox News reports.

Discussions about driverless cars and the bright future they bring have flooded the net in the last years, all thanks to Google. The technology desired by the administration will not be that complex. A Google car is equipped with a highly complex sensor system. For Google it will by easier to adopt the future governmental regulation, which will require far less sophistication.

The administration predicts that the communication system will cost about $329 in 2020. The costs will rapidly decrease as the technology penetrates the market and producers gain experience.

For an inter-car communication system to produce the most widespread beneficial effects, all cars will have to have such a functional communication system. The government will devise regulation that will include retrofitting present automobiles, along with the equipping newly produced cars with the technology.

Maybe $329 does not seem like a small price to pay but think of it as an extra insurance policy. It might help you cut repair, as well as hospitalization costs.

Navdy Dashboard Device Helps Drivers Stay Focused

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Navdy is a San Francisco-based company founded in 2012 by Doug Simpson and Karl Guttag. The company now offers its homonymous hardware product. The name is pretty straight-forward, it is a navigation display. Basically, as it is marketed, Navdy dashboard device is “Google Glass for your car, but without the glasses.”

Drivers are avid communication technology consumers, but this might take their eyes of the road. Too many near-accidents take place and Navdy wants to help prevent any casualties. This will be achieved by taking into account how a driver has to act while driving and offer the most suitable UI.

The device features a 5.1 inches projected display showing specific information from your smartphone. Navdy dashboard device is thus more than just a smartphone mirroring hardware piece. Navdy accepts orders through hand gestures and voice activation.

Android Car is one ecosystem getting prepared by Google. In the meantime, Apple works on Carplay, the company’s answer to a digitalized driving experience.

How will the Navdy dashboard device integrate in OS ecosystems?

So many devices are being released these days. But what about compatibility issues, as long as there are more than just a couple of competing operating systems?

“[Distribution] is a problem for every company, but it’s especially acute for hardware companies. Beyond that, pairing devices to our phones still isn’t easy. Bluetooth can be a bit janky. Overall, I think folks in the Valley discount how unnatural device pairing is for the average consumer,” Navdy investor Semil Shah of the Haystack fund, told VentureBeat via email.

Google is one of the pioneers in the domain of driverless cars. The tech giant developed and tested driverless cars, which come up with exciting results. Many accidents can be avoided when cars communicate with each other directly and efficiently. Until then, more than a couple of devices like Navdy are available for drivers, although Navdy is one of the most advanced.

So far, Navdy dashboard device will offer functions in three main areas, communication, navigation, and music. When the company will release a SDK, we expect other ingenious apps from third-party developers. The device can be controlled through hand gestures like pointing towards the display, or swiping to the left or right. Other functions expected from Navdy are related to diagnostics. Navdy dashboard device might be adjusted to offer useful information to the driver, including data related to the car’s status.

Ford Recalls Over One Million Cars for Faulty Steering, Floor Mat and Corrosion Issues

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This week two big news took the internet by storm. Two news that are somewhat related, yet they seem hundreds of years apart. The first was about Google’s driverless car revealed. The little electric car that Google has been working on for quite some time is a little gem of a prototype. It has no steering wheel and no pedals and it is how the future car is most likely going to look like. The second news, much more disconcerting, was that Ford recalls over one million cars for faulty steering. Hopefully, Google hurries up its testing so that we all have access to its driverless car. Until then, Ford cars will have to do.

Ford Recalls Over One Million Cars for Faulty Steering

The US car giant, Ford, has announced this week that it is recalling 1.4 million cars. Around 1.1 million SUVs that were sold in North America are being called back because of faulty steering, or more accurately put, a loss of power steering. An additional 200,000 Taurus sends are prone to a corrosion issue. This only applies to the Taurus sedans that are built between the year 2010 and 2014.

Here are the numbers:

For power steering issues: 195,527 Ford Explorer SUVs (2011-2013); 915,216 Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner SUVs (2008 – 2011)
For floor mat issues: 82,576 Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan, Lincoln Zephyr and MKZ sedans (2006 – 2011)
For corrosion issues: 196,639 Ford Taurus sedans (2010 – 2014)

These recalls are not good news for Ford which is apparently losing some ground and is taking some serious blows to its reputation. Ford recalls over a million cars which can only mean that it’s serious.

Another recent recall safety scandal happened at General Motors which has been accused of failing to report defects in some of its vehicles. In the first couple of months on 2014, General Motors recalled 2.6 million cars due to faulty ignition switches. These faults could turn off the engine during driving which caused the airbags from inflating. Unfortunately, the fault was linked to 13 deaths and many people believe that this figure is only going to grow.

It’s good that Ford has been upfront about its car flaws and that it is recalling its cars. Are you one of those people whose car has been recalled? Do you know someone? What do you think this could mean for Ford? Leave us your thoughts in the comment section below.

Google partners with Audi to add Android car dashboard system

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Apple has started their own iOS car dashboard system and it looks like their megaton open source rival will join in the pursuit of enhancing experiences in cars, with a report stating Google has partnered with Audi to add the first dashboard system, based on Android.

We knew it wouldn’t be long before Android stepped into the car scene, already Google is working on self-driving cars and it looks like this will be one small step into integrating the technology into a car, capable of powering it in the near future.

Android has already got backing from Audi, but this is not the first car company to pledge support to Android’s efforts in its expansion. Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk said they would be looking to add Android emulation and Google Chrome into their Tesla S model cars.

Google will use MiraCast to put Android into the in-car dashboard and we believe this will be a stock version of Android, unless Audi and partners want to do the same as OEM partners and skin their in-car dashboard to look different from competitors.

This would be a new way to offer options on the look and feel of the system, unlike iOS which is all controlled by Apple, Google is more open with Android and allows manufacturers to change the look and add additional features and functionality to the system.

We are going to see our first look at the Android in-car dashboard at CES in January, next month. This is an exciting time, but it is just the start of technology companies starting to integrate with car manufacturers and we already know Google has more plans in the stream.

The question is can Google really pull off the same dominance in cars as they have had on mobiles – surely since Apple makes deals with car manufacturers, it would be much cheaper to add Android into the dashboard and would allow manufacturers more flexibility when it comes to the user experience, tailoring it to certain cars.